Recognising a company’s culture: Can it be done on Facebook and Twitter?

First of all, happy New Year to everyone who is reading this blog!

In December I posted about the importance of considering the culture of a company before joining them and asked whether it actually matters.
Well it does, but I didn’t go into any depth on the question of how and where you would find out what a company’s culture really is like.
So I would like to talk a bit about it now.

I read an interesting discussion related to it on Linked which asked the question:
“How valuable is a company blog/twitter account/Facebook page in discovering what their culture is like?”
It went on to ask:

If you’re looking for a job and want to evaluate a company and their working culture/values to see if you will ‘fit in’, where do you look?
Do you rely on word of mouth, the internet, corporate websites? Or do you hunt out any use of social media for an ‘insider’ view.
And do you think social media is a better way of finding a job which speaks to your passions?

Well, if I wanted to evaluate a company’s culture I would definitely use any online resource within my reach.
It’s easy, quick and you can gather lots of information from all sides and from many different sources.
As library and Information Science professional Amalia Menon states in her answer to the question: “Social media is just another tool/resource to finding out more about a company. Use it with other resources and you’ll have enough information to make a decision whether a company is a good fit or not.”
And Linda LoCicero, from The Staffing Company, adds: “Culture is extremely important in considering a new position. Yes, it’s important to have a paycheck, but if the overall fit of the organization does not mesh with who you are and your own personal values it can lead to bigger problems in the long run . . .  Using social media is a great way to find a position that is lined up with your passions. There are so many options available for making connections with people who have similar passions. You never know where it could lead you!”

In my opinion social media helps you to create a more realistic idea of what you are going to find. You are able to put face to a company’s employees (even contact them!), to read about what they are doing on a daily basis, etc.

And even if you are already an employee at the company, it can be really interesting to read what your colleagues do or say within the company.
In my case, I really like to read what’s on the DiscoverRB Twitter page. RB it’s a multinational company and it’s not easy to get an idea of the work of every single employee, so it’s wonderful to have a place where you can read something about it.

Another commenter on the discussion, social media professional Jessica Routier, adds: “I agree. The company’s culture will be best portrayed as a mixture of everything they put on the web. As a general rule, I think that social media – Twitter especially – allows companys to show their more relaxed side”.

Blogger Robert Taub also wrote an interesting article ‘Tell-tail characteristics of company culture’ on the Secrets of the Job Hunt site, encouraging job hunters to “learn what you are getting into before you accept your new position”.

And if you are here looking to investigate the culture of Reckitt Benckiser, then this blog will definitely give you a feel for what it is like to work here (read the last post from Praveen – A peek behind the scenes of a fast-moving FMCG company -  and you’ll see what I mean )